Achieving predictive maintenance (PdM)

In manufacturing, transportation, energy, or any asset-intensive field, downtime and shrinking MTBF (mean time between failures) are the enemies, topped only by outright system failure. All three greatly increase overhead. And so does crisis maintenance.

One large US automotive manufacturer reported that for its maintenance staff of 15,000 to 18,000, “85 percent to 90 percent [of their maintenance work] is crisis work.” A 19:1 ratio of planned to unplanned maintenance is commonly considered to be world-class by manufacturers. But this ratio raises the question: even if the plant is operating at…